Corporeality
by rachbeall
Summary: Is it real or isn't it? Fears must be faced before Atlantis can reach its TRUE potential. This story was written for my friend Callie, who insists that others would like it, too...so here we are.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to MGM.**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The suns were just rising as Dr. Elizabeth Weir walked into what many of Atlantis's residents had begun to affectionately refer to as the "Galley". Who was responsible for this new nickname, she did not know (although she did have her suspicions) however, it did no harm - and it even seemed to boost the overall atmosphere in the somewhat sterile environment of the room - so she had no objection to it.

She steps over to the buffet style counter and quickly scans the day's offerings. She is pleasantly surprised to see fresh fruit, and places something that is fairly similar to an apple on her tray. She then grabs her usual yogurt and coffee, and turns back to the room. The sound of laughter reaches her from one of the corners, drawing her attention to that area. She smiles as she spots the group responsible for the sounds of merriment - _of course_ it would be them! Her smile grows wider as one of the party catches her eye, then waves her over with a smile of her own.

She carefully maneuvers over to the table, and taking a seat, she nods. "Good morning, Teyla." The smaller woman's smile is warm – but tinged with humor – as she returns the nod. "Elizabeth." The leader narrows her eyes in amused suspicion, causing the other woman to giggle – actually _giggle_! Teyla – the "warrior princess" of the Athosian people – _giggling_!

Elizabeth merely stares at her friend for a moment, but no explanation seems to be forthcoming, so she turns her attention to the rest – acknowledging each one with a slight nod. She studies their faces; taking note of the varying levels of amusement in each one of their expressions….especially on one face in particular….and raises an eyebrow slightly. She is growing more curious by the second, but her experience as a negotiator is serving her well - no one at that table could have guessed how curious she really is…..while she, on the other hand, can read each of them like a book.

It takes no time at all to determine who is responsible for the current state of this eclectic group – despite his blatantly obvious attempt to look innocent – but she chooses to bypass him and go straight to the weakest link. "Good morning, Rodney."

The scientist's eyes flit up, then back down to the table. "Oh….uh….good morning, Elizabeth." He attempts to look casual by taking a drink from his newly refilled coffee cup ……and promptly burns his mouth, reflexively spitting the beverage out - straight across the table and onto an unsuspecting Ronon Dex.

There is stunned silence around the table as Rodney stares at the big Satedan in horror. No one moves as Ronon – his face a mask - slowly looks up from his now coffee stained shirt to the nervous scientist across from him.

Rodney licks his lips, and puts his hands up – palms facing outward. "Now….ah….there is no need to overreact here….it was just an accident." He glances around the table, searching for affirmation. "I mean…you all saw that, right?" He points to his coffee cup, "That coffee is hot! Scalding, really……I burned my tongue…..I probably have second degree burns in there."

"And yet, it doesn't seem to have affected your ability to talk……pity."

Rodney gives the man sitting next to him a dirty look. "Ha ha ha…..very funny, Sheppard! We'll see how funny it is when my tongue swells up!"

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard smirks and subtly winks at the ladies. "I look forward to it."

Rodney glares at him, then at the women who are trying to contain their laughter. "This is not a laughing matter."

"No, it's not."

The scientist's attention instantly snaps back to big man who had just ominously spoken. "Ah…look, Ronon….it was an accident….no need to get upset." He begins to shake a little under the steady stare of the large man across from him. "As I just explained…..uh…." He weakly gestures once again to the mug. "…..the coffee is quite hot……_extremely_ hot, actually……um…."

Silence……Rodney snaps. "Ok…I'm sorry! Is that what you wanted to hear???? I'm sorry that some idiot heated the coffee beyond reasonable levels, causing me to burn my mouth - quite possibly doing permanent damage - and forcing my body to eject the offending beverage!"

Beads of sweat form on the man's forehead as he shifts nervously in his seat, waiting to see if his "apology" will be accepted - then, in a weak attempt at bravado, he adds "Can I help it that you happened to be sitting directly across from me?"

Elizabeth had begun to feel rather unnerved by Ronon's unwavering stare, herself. _Something is not right here_. She frowns when she hears Rodney's last comment, knowing that would not go over very well with the man currently covered in coffee and spittle. However, she is not prepared for what suddenly happens next…..

Faster than she would have ever thought possible (even for him), Ronon shoots up out of his seat, knocks Teyla out of hers and into the wall – causing Elizabeth to stumble backwards out of her own chair - and reaches towards the shocked scientist.

To Elizabeth's horror and disbelief, the Satedan's left hand changes into a shiny point which he then plunges into the forehead of the fear paralyzed man before him. Ronon suddenly turns his cold eyes towards her – eerily reminding her of Oberoth, her one time captor and torturer. "We may have been defeated, but you still have not won – no matter what you do, you cannot protect them."

His features then morph into that of a Wraith's and his right hand shoots out, latching onto Colonel Sheppard's chest. The Colonel stares at her helplessly, as rapidly his hair turns white and his features age. "Elizabeth….."

"NO!!!!!!" Elizabeth suddenly sits up in bed – trembling and drenched in sweat. She looks around the room that she finds herself in, trying to clear her dream fogged mind and make sense of what just happened. Slowly reality sets back in, and she realizes that she is not in Atlantis at all, but on one of the Asuran ships that she has been commanding ever since her escape from imprisonment on their homeworld.

Tears form in her eyes as she hugs her legs tightly to her body – trying unsuccessfully to still her trembling. She wraps herself snugly in a colorful woven Athosian blanket that she had managed to purchase from one of that people's former trading partners. She was very excited the day that she found it, and – no longer having anything of home– it always brought her great comfort. She burrows further into the gentle warmth, leaning back against the wall and reflecting on this most recent dream. She shudders. It had been weeks since she had had a nightmare like that. She wipes her tears and sniffs. "Why now?"

But the cold room has no answers to give her……

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to MGM.**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

John Sheppard wipes his brow for the umpteenth time since arriving on this miserably humid tropical planet. The climate itself would not be so bad – he'd endured worse before – were it not for the incessant complaining about it from a certain "genius" scientist.

As usual, Dr. Rodney McKay is bringing up the rear of their four member group. Sweat is pouring down his face, and his breathing is labored as he struggles to maneuver through the thick underbrush that seems to cover every possible inch of ground.

He trips on yet another root, muttering (not for the first time) about the unfairness of their team having to explore this "godforsaken" planet, while Major Lorne's team got to go to the "paradise" planet. _It_ has an extremely pleasant climate, bright blue sky, gently rolling hills, and crystal clear water.

"Noooo….Atlantis's premier team has to struggle and stumble through insanely thick plant life, sweat probably to the point of dehydration…..and for what?" He waves a hand at the landscape. "This??? There's nothing here that I can see….well, nothing of value, anyway….just suffocating heat and never-ending jungle!"

"You are the only one stumbling, McKay."

Rodney glares at the back of the big man who did not even bother to look at him while making his rude remark. "I am a _scientist, _Ronon…..not a mindless commando like the three of you! I…."

WHAP! A branch smacks the man right in the face, stopping his rant mid-sentence and causing him to fall flat on his butt with a surprised huff. "Ow!"

"Oh…..sorry about that." Ronon's face looks anything but repentant as he looks at his teammate sprawled on the ground. "You should pay more attention to where you are going…..like us _mindless_ commandos."

John snickers, then turns back and continues on in the direction they were going. Ronon turns to follow him, but not without one final smirk in the scientist's direction.

"You did that on purpose!" He reaches a hand up to his neck, then his face, "I could have whiplash……or a broken nose!"

Teyla rolls her eyes, and steps over to help the man up. "You are not injured, Rodney…..and Ronon is right: you should try to pay more attention."

He merely glares at her as he takes her hand and stands up. "I wouldn't _have_ to pay so much attention, if not for _some_ people."

The big man ignores him and just keeps walking, while Teyla only shakes her head and turns to follow.

Rodney dusts himself off, then picks up the computer tablet that he had been carrying before his unfortunate encounter with the tree branch. It is smaller than the tablets he usually uses on Atlantis - and much tougher - so it is quite handy for off world missions. He checks to make sure that it is undamaged, then looks up to find that his teammates have actually managed to cover a fair amount of ground, so he would have some catching up to do.

"Oh, that's just peachy!" He sighs in annoyance, but begins to walk quickly. "Hey! Wait up!"

Despite the terrain, the out of shape scientist manages to catch up to the rest just as they are exiting the jungle into a clearing. "Why didn't you wait for me? There could have been some wild alien creature back there for all we know! I could have been…."

He stops as he notices the rest of the team staring at something in the distance, and turns to see what has captured their attention. "Oh…..wow."

The clearing is much larger than the one containing the stargate, and the jungle around it forms a perfect circle. At its center rises an impressive tower, its design very similar to the towers of Atlantis. However, there are several differences: its color is the purest white any of them have ever seen – to the point of being almost clear; its architecture is not as sharp as the geometric design of Atlantis, and its windows also seem to lack the geometric patterns of the city – instead more closely resembling the stained glass windows of Earth's cathedrals.

There is no doubt that it had to have been designed by one of the "Ancestors", for there are more similarities to Atlantis than there are differences…..although none of them have ever seen anything quite like it before.

The base has the same "snowflake" shape as Atlantis, but it is much smaller, and only one tower rises from its center. The entire structure looks almost as if it could be made of ice (reminding both of the men from Earth of the base in Antarctica) creating a stark contrast to the surrounding environment.

John echoes Rodney. "Wow."

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters, MGM does.**

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

Elizabeth steps out of her quarters fully composed and ready to face the day. She is exhausted and still shaken by her nightmare, but she will never allow her crew to see it. She turns down the corridor and heads towards the nearest transporter.

"Commander Weir!"

She turns at the sound of her name, and smiles at the Asuran hurrying to catch up to her. "Good morning, Kalia."

"Good morning, Commander. I brought you your coffee."

Elizabeth accepts the silver mug gratefully. "Thank you." She takes a sip, and then sighs contentedly. "You are the only one who knows how to make it correctly. Thank you again."

The girl smiles and nods. She does not miss the weariness that her leader is attempting to conceal, but she knows better than to comment on it. If there is one thing she has learned about Commander Weir, it's that she is a very private person. "You are very welcome, ma'am."

They fall into step as they continue in the direction of the transporter. "I have been asked to inform you that Arlon would like to speak to you as soon as possible this morning."

Elizabeth looks at her with a slightly worried expression - unwelcome images from her nightmare flashing through her mind. "Why? Did something happen while I was asleep?" Her brow wrinkles. "He didn't contact me."

"Oh no, ma'am! I believe that there was just something of interest on one of the scans that he wishes to discuss with you. There is no need for concern…..he just did not wish to disturb your rest."

She had grown accustomed to the mental form of communication that the Asurans preferred, but she appreciated the crew's attempts to respect her privacy, and not break in on her thoughts unless given permission…..or unless it was absolutely necessary.

She nods as they step into the transporter. "Very well….I will speak with him as soon as we reach Command."

Arlon, First Officer of the Asuran fleet (if 5 and ½ ships can be classified as a "fleet"), leader of the initial rogue replicator uprising, and Elizabeth's "right hand man" is monitoring activity from the command chair when the two women step out of the transporter.

He looks up from the data he had been studying and stands as his leader approaches him. "Good morning, Commander. I trust that you slept well?"

"Well enough. Kalia said that you wished to speak with me."

"Yes ma'am…our scanners have picked up something interesting from one of the planets near here."

Arlon dismisses Kalia with a nod, then leads Elizabeth over to one of the consoles. He touches a control panel, bringing up the screen he had been studying earlier from the control chair.

"We have been doing scans of all the planets within one hyperspace jump of us, and discovered something unusual on this one."

He selects a section of the screen, and then enlarges it. "Our normal scans would not have even detected this……however, we were testing a new program that Raena created and it exposed it."

Elizabeth steps closer and studies the image on the screen. "Is that an energy signature?"

Arlon nods excitedly. "Yes….but a very _unique_ one."

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

Rodney lifts his computer tablet as the team begins to walk towards the breathtaking structure. "Hmmm….I'm getting some interesting energy readings. It looks like there is an….."

"AH…."

The three men immediately stop and turn at the exclamation. Teyla is down on one knee – a pained expression on her face, and a hand over her chest.

"Teyla! What happened?" John bends down to see if he can find any injuries, but is slightly baffled when he finds none.

"I do not know." She looks up. "I started to walk into the clearing, and I suddenly felt a very sharp pain."

She rubs her chest and takes a shaky breath. "But do not worry…..I am feeling better now."

Ronon raises an eyebrow, but says nothing.

"Truly…….it seems to have passed."

She starts to stand, and instantly the two men flanking her reach out to help her up. They make sure that she is standing steadily before releasing her arms, and then turn their attention to the smaller man - who had just been standing by, unsure of what to do.

"McKay?"

"What? _I_ didn't do anything!"

Ronon just crosses his arms and stares down at him. "You're the _genius scientist_…..figure it out."

"How am I supposed to do that??? I may be a genius, but I'm not _omniscient_!" He glares at Ronon. "Do I _look_ like an Ancient to you?"

"Never mind….don't answer that! The point is that there is no way I could know……oh wait…." He snaps his fingers and looks downs at his computer. "The energy readings! As I was saying before Teyla…um….got hurt? There seems to be an energy field covering this entire clearing."

"Why would an energy field hurt Teyla, but not us?"

Rodney tears his eyes away from the small screen to look at John. "Ah…..that I don't know…….but it doesn't seem to be bothering her now."

The men all glance at the woman, who nods her agreement. "Rodney is correct – I am quite well now."

John studies her with narrowed eyes for a few seconds.

"Really, John…..I am fine."

He stares at her for a couple more seconds, but then finally seems convinced. "Okay….but we should probably figure out just why an energy field would have a negative effect on _her_, and no effect on _us _before we try to go back _out_ of the field……Rodney."

The scientist rolls his eyes. "_Of course_….leave it to _me_ to save the day…._again_."

John sighs. "Just keep an eye on those readings, Rodney……see what you can figure out."

He turns away before the man can reply, and starts to head towards the "Fortress of Solitude". (That is the name that he had decided to call it……and he thought it was a pretty cool name, too!)

He quickly - but not carelessly - scans the entire clearing before continuing, adjusting his P-90 to be ready should he suddenly need it. "We don't know what this place was used for, so let's just be extra careful going forward….shall we?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, Everyone....sorry for the wait! Real life got busy and I just could not devote the time necessary to finishing Chapter 5. But I finally did and here it is! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, MGM does.**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Elizabeth glances up from studying the image on the screen. "Unique in what way, Arlon?"

He touches some controls, causing the image to disappear and a screen containing data to replace it. He points to the first of two graphs that are displayed. "This is a typical energy signature, easily picked up by ordinary scans."

He points to the graph below it. "This is the signature that I just showed you."

Elizabeth cannot hide the surprise on her face. "I've never seen anything like this before." She studies the graph more carefully. "Its readings look completely different from any of the others that I am familiar with." She looks at her First Officer. "And I have become familiar with a great many."

He only nods as she continues. "In fact, these readings are the complete _opposite_ of what I have come to expect." She returns her attention to the screen. "What exactly does this mean?"

"I am not completely sure what it means as far as how the energy field actually _functions_ – that would require more study – but the data suggests a field that was deliberately created to _mask_ something while still _protecting_ it."

The leader cannot hide the surprise on her face when she looks at Arlon again. "You mean it's capable of being a shield _and_ a cloak at the same time?"

"That is precisely what he means, ma'am."

Elizabeth turns to the small red-haired woman who had just spoken. The woman steps out from behind one of the control stations and approaches her. "However, it is more sophisticated than any field of which we currently have knowledge……so _how_ it is able to do both simultaneously is still a mystery."

"Interesting….." The leader briefly glances at the readings again, then returns her attention to the slight Asuran standing before her. "How did you discover this, Raena?" She inclines her head slightly in her First Officer's direction. "Arlon said that you were testing a new program that you created."

The woman nods her affirmation. "Yes ma'am."

Elizabeth crosses her arms, interest clearly displayed in her features as well as her stance. "Just what is this program, and how is it able to detect an energy signature that we did not even know existed?"

Raena smiles slightly before answering. "As you already know, our current intelligence on Wraith activity points to their attempting to find ways to detect us while we are cloaked. To that end, they have been testing multiple forms of energy beams and long-range scans."

The taller woman nods, so the smaller woman continues. "I realized that unless we could detect such energy attacks, we would be unable to defend ourselves against them……so I created a program that specifically seeks out any anomalous energy readings."

She steps over to the console and directs Elizabeth's attention to another screen. "The program runs in conjunction with both our long-range and short-range scanners. This particular energy signature was discovered by the long-range scan."

She touches a panel and opens a screen displaying an image of planet. "It is coming from this planet…..which is about two hyperspace jumps from here. According to our database, it's called Niom." She turns excitedly to her leader. "There is very little information to be found on it."

Elizabeth is confused as to why that fact would cause excitement and is about to comment on it, but the young woman continues before she can even utter a word. "It appears that the lack of information is very deliberate. I have searched the entire database, but have only found references to it in the personal files of one of the Alterran scientists – a man by the name of Galean - but he was very vague whenever he referenced it."

She touches another panel and pulls up all of the information she had found, stepping back so the taller woman can read it. "All that I can determine is that he was doing some kind of work there that he felt was very important….it consumed him. However, it does not seem as if the Alterran counsel was in full support of whatever he was working on - which would explain his very careful and very skilled concealment of all information pertaining to it. If his history is any indication, I would say that we can assume that if any information regarding his work still exists; it exists solely somewhere on that planet."

She pauses, hesitating for just a moment, then continues. "There is more, as well, ma'am….."

Elizabeth and Arlon both look at Raena curiously. "More?"

The woman glances a little sheepishly at the First Officer before returning her attention to the Commander. "I only discovered it a few moments before you arrived. There is another element to the energy signature…"

She brings up yet another screen on the console, and both leaders lean over to look at it. Elizabeth's brow is furrowed in confusion and curiosity as she shifts her eyes from the screen and directs them to the scientist before her. "What is it?"

"I am afraid that I do not have any idea, ma'am."

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to MGM.**

Sorry for the wait!!! Hopefully, more chapters will be forthcoming soon!

* * *

John leads the team forward cautiously, studying the structure with unmasked curiosity. It is a sight to behold, to be sure. The light of the twin suns reflects off of it like a multifaceted diamond, mixing with the morning mist and creating rainbow light all around the team as they split up and begin to circle it. Even the war-hardened Satedan could not help but look around him in wonder. "What _is_ this place?"

Rodney – the only member of the team _not_ taking in the ethereal beauty surrounding him - looks up from his intense study of his computer tablet, "What? Oh….um…..I'm not sure yet……..but it is emitting some very unique energy readings."

"Unique _good_, or unique _bad_?"

"How in the world should I know? They are _unique_…….as in '_the only one or the sole example'._" He glances back down to the tablet in his hand. "I have never seen readings like this before……"

At that moment, they round the back portion of the structure, meeting up again with John and Teyla. "Is that good or bad, McKay?"

The scientist huffs in frustration as he looks up at the Colonel. "_I don't know!_ As I _just_ said, _I have never seen readings like these before_……..that means….oh, I don't know - _I have never seen them before! _Geez!_"_

"Well, you should probably _figure it out_, McKay……we don't want to have _more_ unpleasant little surprises."

Rodney opens his mouth to reply, but the reply dies in his throat as a door suddenly appears where there had previously been only smooth wall. The entire team suddenly turns at the quiet swooshing sound, and John, Ronon, and Teyla are all instantly on alert – weapons up and ready, as Rodney quickly moves to a safer position behind the three.

"Rodney?"

"What? I didn't do it!"

The Colonel clenches his jaw in irritation, but does not remove his attention from the entryway. "What do the _scans_ show, Rodney? Are there any lifesigns coming from in there?"

The nervous scientist glances back down at the computer tablet he had momentarily forgotten. "Oh…right…..um……no, there are no lifesigns that I can see."

"What about booby traps? Are you seeing anything like that?"

"Booby traps? Yes, Sheppard….this highly sophisticated piece of equipment is programmed to detect _booby traps_."

Ronon's glare prevents the man from further digging himself into a hole, so he only says "Ummmm…..there isn't a force field or anything if that's what you are worried about."

"Thank you….now was that so hard, McKay?" John does not wait for a response as he turns to Teyla. "I'll go first, then you." He then turns to the large Satedan. "Ronon, you go last…cover our six."

The big man nods and falls back behind the scientist, but not without first giving him a meaningful nudge. Rodney glares at him, but says nothing as the team begins to cautiously move forward.

John turns on the light attached to his gun and steps into the entrance. "Alright folks…..let's hope this ends up being a _nice_ surprise for a change."

**TBC**


End file.
